PROFILE: SCALES IN PORTLAND, ME

We’re back! After nearly four years away from Lobster Roll Chronicles, its finally time to embark on a follow-up expedition to seek out the best lobster rolls in northern New England.

This time, we’re starting in our old stomping ground in Portland, ME. Scales opened less than two years ago, and is now under the watchful eye of two co-chefs who, according to staff, have a wonderfully complementary working relationship. With a poured concrete bar that has a built-in oyster sluice, you can’t go wrong banging out a dozen Pemaquids or Damariscottas at the bar, but don’t stop there.

On a whim, we decided to take the LRC out of the barn, and review what, on the surface, appeared to be a fancy-dressed traditional roll. We couldn’t have been further from the truth. The Scales lobster roll is disguised to look like you fancy uncle’s traditional roll, but nested in an in-house baked and perfectly browned split-top roll, this roll successfully combines the two warring factions of lobster roll-dome. Sweet, warm hand-picked lobster meat is first bathed in a brown butter, so good it is guaranteed to turn the heads of the most ardent cold roll fans. But then, this roll it is topped with a home-made chilled aioli mayonnaise that Hellmann’s fans will find exotic, but Cain’s fans will find hauntingly familiar.

Now, is it possible we’ve been away so long that we’ve lost our ability to rank this roll with previous lobster stars? No. We know what we’re doing, and this lobster roll from Scales is one of the best you’ll find, so long as you remain open to the warm-cold combo (which is better than you probably think). At $23, this roll isn’t cheap, but the accompanying fries were perfection, rounding out the value proposition. We give Scale’s roll a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating! Here’s how Scales stacked up (0-100):

T’s Rating: 93
P’s Rating: 92
AVERAGE: 92.5

Scales can be found on Maine Wharf, 68 Commercial St. Portland, ME 04101 (behind The Dry Dock Restaurant and Ri-Ra Irish Pub & Restaurant). Find them on FACEBOOK here, or call them at 207.805.0444.

This is our snap of the Sales Lobster Roll. Check out the Scales website for other images.

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Profile: “THE WARREN TAVERN” in Charlestown, MA

After a long day of hiking around Boston, we decided to stop into The Warren Tavern for a beer and a bite. We noticed they featured a lobster roll on their menu, so we decided to give it a try. Dating back to 1780, The Warren claims to be “the most historic watering hole in America” and “the oldest tavern in Massachusetts.” It definitely feels old, and at least initially had a really cool revolutionary-era atmosphere. But, after being greeted by a less-than-friendly hostess and looking around a bit whilst we awaited the arrival of our server, we realized that the decor feels more like 1970s Pewter Pot than 1770s revolutionary America.

Whether or not the history is true or accurate, one thing’s for sure – George Washington and Paul Revere did not frequent The Warren because of their lobster roll. Our rolls arrived in a small split-top New England style hot dog bun that was splayed open as flat as a piece of bread. (Hey Warren, how much do those little paper hot dog roll sleeves cost?) And, although one side of the roll was butter-grilled, warm and crispy, the other side was cool and soggy. Oh, and the bun was lined with some shreds of iceberg lettuce.

Worst, though, was the lobster meat, which was tough and didn’t taste fresh at all. I asked our server if the meat was frozen, and she insisted that they get fresh deliveries every morning. Well, if that’s true, then The Warren should really consider changing suppliers. Or, maybe these “fresh deliveries” don’t come on Sundays. And adding insult to injury, this tough lobster meat was over-mayo’d, and was flecked with chunks of chopped celery.

The Warren Tavern lobster roll very nearly landed themselves in our Hall Of Shame, along with other substandard rolls from The Lobster Dock, Neptune Oyster, and Charlie’s Kitchen. But in the end they averted the shameful designation.

We were rooting for you, Warren Tavern, but in the end you ended up with a NOT RECOMMENDED rating. Here’s how you stacked up (0-100):

T’s Rating: 70
P’s Rating: 70
AVERAGE: 70

The Warren Tavern is located at 2 Pleasant Street in Charlestown, MA. WEBSITE: http://www.warrentavern.com/index.htm. FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/TheWarrenTavern. PHONE: 617.241.8142

The Warren Tavern’s lobster roll in NOT RECOMMENDED.

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Profile: “KELLY’S ROAST BEEF” in Revere, MA

Earlier this summer we dusted off the road bikes and headed toward Revere Beach to visit an institution: Kelly’s Roast Beef. Nowadays known to most simply as “Kelly’s,” it seems nearly everyone north of Boston has been to Kelly’s, and opinions vary – some people swear by Kelly’s, where others despise the place. We think this is because Kelly’s has been around so long that it has become a sort of caricature of itself – that is, people more often express opinions about the “idea” of Kelly’s, than they do about their actual experiences there. We certainly felt this was true of ourselves, and we wanted to give Kelly’s a fair shake.

One thing’s for sure, Kelly’s always seems to be busy. We waited a bit before placing our order, and in 10 minutes we picked up our rolls and headed across Revere Beach Boulevard to the picnic tables overlooking the beach. Our initial impression was very favorable. This roll was loaded, and enclosed in a beautifully butter-grilled split-top hot dog roll. The lobster meat was very fresh, dressed with mayo and a tiny bit of diced celery (i.e. not so much as to count against them). The portion was large and, if the review was to end here, Kelly’s would have ranked very highly indeed.

Now, the rest of the story. We had two complaints about the Kelly’s roll. First, this roll was way over-salted – so much so, that it was difficult to imagine eating the accompanying potato chips after polishing off our rolls. Second, and this observation was confirmed after the fact by several other lobster roll hounds we know, this roll was, in a word, soggy. We’re not saying the bread was soggy – it wasn’t. What we’re saying is that the lobster meat itself was just way too wet, not from too much mayo but from what we assume to be excess water left over from the picking process. You can see from our accompanying photo, the mayo on this roll looks watered down, because it was… and that’s exactly how it tasted.

The thing here is, aside from these two complaints this was a very good roll. And these issues are easy fixes. In fact, if it weren’t for the salt and the sog, Kelly’s roll would have scored in the ballpark of James Hook or The Beach Plum, with a solid “Highly Recommended” rating. Instead, Kelly’s ends up with an “Acceptable” rating. Here’s how they stacked up (0-100):

T’s Rating: 84
P’s Rating: 84
AVERAGE: 84

Kelly’s has multiple locations, but we visited their original location at 410 Revere Beach Blvd in Revere, MA. WEBSITE: http://www.kellysroastbeef.com/wordpress/. FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/KellysRoastBeefInc?ref=s. PHONE: 781.284.9129.

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Profile: “LEGAL HARBORSIDE” in Boston, MA

We’ve been away for a few weeks, but prior to leaving we had made a stop at Legal Seafood’s Legal Harborside. We’d heard lots of talk about this place: the view, the party atmosphere, the long waits for service. It’s all true. The view from the roof deck is really great, and you can imagine yourself looking out over mor tropical scenes, but you are quickly snapped back to reality by a low-flying jumbo jet on a landing pattern to Logan, or an LNG tanker heading to Everett. But the view is still pretty nice. Legal Harborside also has some pretty cool mixology going on, and we really enjoyed the Blueberry Thyme Collins.

Sorry to say, that’s the extent of our positive comments. We had to do laps around the roofdeck looking for a seat, and were on the verge of leaving when a guy grabbed our attention to tell us his party was leaving. We waited with him, at his table, for probably 20 minutes as he waited for his check. Taking our cue, we ordered drinks and our lobster rolls the first chance we got, but waited for close to an hour for our lunch to be delivered. In the meantime, we saw a guy almost get knocked off the roof by a fly-away folding window caught by the wind, and we observed what seemed a 50-1 customer-server ratio. But the view was nice.

Our rolls finally arrived and we were initially pleased by the presentation. A nicely toasted roll, homemade potato chips and slaw, and some nice looking lobster meat made us forget the wait. After all, the view was nice. But a couple of bites in and we were left disappointed. We should point out that we’re generally happy with Legal Seafoods. Their fish is famously fresh and never frozen. But had we not know this, we would have assumed that this was frozen lobster meat. Instead, we surmised that, since this was a Sunday afternoon, our lobster meat had been prepared the previous day. Now, we’re not saying that’s what happened for sure, we’re simply saying that’s what it tasted like. The roll, although seemingly grilled to a beautiful bronze, had very little in the way of a buttery taste. The homemade potato chips were great, but that’s a topic for some other blog.

In the end, Legal Harborside lands with a NOT RECOMMENDED rating. Here’s how they stacked up (0-100):

T’s Rating: 74
P’s Rating: 76
AVERAGE: 75

But the view was nice.

Legal Harborside is located 270 Northern Avenue in Boston, MA. Website: http://www.legalseafoods.com/restaurants/boston-legal-harborside. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LegalHarborside. PHONE: 617.477.2900.

Disappointing, bland, old-tasting. NOT RECOMMENED.

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PROFILE: “The Lobster Pool” in Rockport, MA

Anyone who’s visited Cape Ann has likely driven by The Lobster Pool in Rockport, MA. Traveling counter-clockwise around the island, the Pool is just past Halibut Point, at the bottom of the big hill, on the right after the bend. This shack is always jammed, and we’ve heard loyalists claim it was the best roll around. So, we figured why not choose The Lobster Pool to kick off our 2013 Season.

This place is right on the ocean, with clear views of Coffin Beach, Crane Beaches, and Plum Island beyond. Lots of picnic tables and a lawn leading down to the water provide a very nice setting (although the lawn was off limits during our visit – re-seeding, we assumed). A sign on a dinghy-turned-planter announced nightly campfires and s’mores — a nice touch. Inside, this is an authentic shack with an eat-in-the-rough feel and lots of lobster paraphernalia, including a live lobster tank and a swag section where you can buy Lobster Pool sweatpants if you should have a sudden urge to look like a tourist. The dining room features large windows so less-hearty souls can enjoy a splendid view of the Atlantic.

We ordered two rolls and sat tight as they were made to order. When the counter girl called our number, we took our tray outside and grabbed a seat at a picnic table. The place was bustling, and we were lucky to get a seat. Proximity of the seating area to the car park was the only downside… that is, until we tried these rolls.

These lobster rolls were small. Although we typically don’t talk much about price (unless something is out of whack), and in this case $17 for a small split-top hotdog roll unworthy of a Fenway Frank was a poor start to the experience. The lobster meat was good, but there was absolutely nothing special about it. It was lightly dressed in what well could have been low-fat may (we’re not saying that’s with they use, only that that’s what it tasted like). And, the role itself was apparently toasted dry, not grilled, and without even a hint of butter. A few random shreds of lettuce lined the bottom of the roll, solidifying the absolute mediocrity of the experience.

The only way was can describe this experience is that this roll was not bad. Nor was it good. It was completely neutral, utterly unmemorable, and not at all worth the price tag — even with the view. We’re going to award The Lobster Pool with an ACCEPTABLE rating, although it’s on the low end of the scale. In fact, the only reason whey they pull ahead of Roy Moore’s lobster roll is because they were made to order. Here’s how they stacked up (0-100):

T’s Rating: 77
P’s Rating: 79
AVERAGE: 78

The Lobster Pool can be found 325 Granite Street in Rockport, MA. WEBSITE: http://www.lobsterpoolrestaurant.com/main/index.php. PHONE: 978.546.7808. Check their schedule, as they are a seasonal business.

The lobster wasn’t bad, but this roll was small, unmemorable, and over-priced.

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The Lobster Roll Chronicles 2012 Year In Review!

Hi, Everyone! We’re excited to kick-off the Lobster Roll Chronicles 2013 Season! Back in October we published our 2012 rankings, but we had a few lobster roll joints sneak into our Fine-15. So, here’s a snapshot of 2012 in review. Enjoy! …T&P

#1 The Galley Restaurant & Pub in Naples, ME – (98 Points )

RATING: ABSOLUTE PERFECTION!

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#2 (Tie) Red’s Eats in Wiscasset, ME – (93.5 Points)

RATING: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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#2 (Tie) The Clam Shack in Kennebunk, ME – (93.5 Points)

RATING: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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#4 Rye Harbor Lobster Pound in Rye, NH – (93 Points)

RATING: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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#5 (Tie) Louie’s Alive & Kicking in Cambridge, MA – (92 Points)

Louie's Alive & Kicking Lobster Sandwich

RATING: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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#5 (Tie) Fisherman’s Grill in Portland, ME – (92 Points)

RATING: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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#7 (Tie) Island Creek Oyster Bar in Boston, MA – (91.5 Points)

RATING: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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#7 (Tie) Lobsta Land in Gloucester, MA – (91.5 Points)

A really great, sweat roll rooted in lobster roll tradition. Really great!

RATING: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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#9 James Hook & Co in Boston, MA – (90 Points)

RATING: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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#10 The Beach Plum in North Hampton, NH – (87.5 Points)

RATING: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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#11 Shaw’s Fish & Lobster Wharf in New Market, ME – (87 Points)

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

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#12 Harraseeket Lunch & Lobster in South Freeport, ME – (85.5 Points)

RECOMMENDED

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#13 (Tie) Belle Isle Seafood now located in Winthrop (new location) – (85 Points)

RECOMMENDED

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#13 (Tie) The Hungry Whale in Salem, MA – (85 Points)

RECOMMENDED

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#15 (Tie) Three Cod Tavern in Marblehead, MA – (83.5 Points)

ACCEPTABLE

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#15 (TIE) B&G Oysters in Boston, MA (83.5 Points)

ACCEPTABLE

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And the rest of the pack…

#17 Old Port Tavern in Portland, ME – (84 Points) – ACCEPTABLE

#18 (Tie) Latitude 43 in Gloucester, MA – (83 Points) – ACCEPTABLE

#18 (Tie) J. T. Farnham’s in Essex, MA – (83 Points) – ACCEPTABLE

#20 The Clam Box in Ipswich, MA – (82.5 Points) – ACCEPTABLE

#21 Jasper White’s Summer Shack in Cambridge, MA – (82 Points) – ACCEPTABLE

#22 Lobster Shack at Two Lights in Cape Elizabeth, ME – (81 Points) – ACCEPTABLE

#23 Roy Moore Lobster Company in Rockport, MA – (77.5 Points) – ACCEPTABLE

#24 Yankee Lobster Company in Boston, MA – (76 Points) – ACCEPTABLE

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Hall Of Shame (boo, hiss)

x. Neptune Oysters in Boston, MA – (60 Points) – AWFUL

x. The Lobster Dock in Boothbay Harbor, ME – (60 Points) – AWFUL

x. Charlie’s Kitchen in Cambridge, MA – (45 Points) – AWFUL

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Profile: “FISHERMEN’S GRILL” in Portland, ME

When we decided to take a last-minute trip to Portland last weekend, we immediately checked the “Best Of” lists to see what Lobster Roll joints right in downtown Portland we may have missed. On most of our lobster roll trips, we used Portland as a base camp for venturing to points north (although, Portland has some absolutely great restaurants in its own right). This time, since we were driving through a blizzard, and wanted to stay close to town. Also, we reached out to our lobster pal, Lobster Gal, who echoed several of lists when she recommended Fishermen’s Grill.

We loved the look of this place right away. The small shack was already hopping when we arrived and we wondered if we’d be eating standing up, but our friend Liz scrounged up a table and some seats and, after ordering, we settled in. We had to wait quite awhile for these made-to-order rolls, and we watched the very proud owner, Tom, crafting these rolls in his small galley kitchen. Our friends, Liz and Larry, ordered a special 2-person lobster roll that came with a side of fried clams, while we ordered traditional “Classic” rolls.

Liz & Larry’s Two-Man Roll!

Let’s just get to the point. These rolls were fantastic! The lobster meat was about as fresh as you can get, which makes sense since Tom cooks all lobsters to order. Just to reiterate, you might find rolls you like better, but you’ll never find better classic lobster roll! The bread, a traditional New England split top hotdog roll was grilled to buttery perfection. A bit of lettuce added a crispy crunch and, as we suspected (and Tom confirmed) they use Hellmann’s mayonnaise – ‘There is no other mayonnaise,” Tom responded when asked. Liz and Larry’s 2-man roll was monstrous, and their side of fried clams were some of the best we’ve ever had. Our traditional rolls were in rarefied air – indeed, you’ll be hard pressed to find a better “classic” roll anywhere. Fishermen’s Grill was a great value, too, with a ton of lobster meat for a very reasonable price (something like $18 per).

The Fishermen’s Grill lobster roll wins a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED rating, and we honestly can’t wait to go back! Here’s how they stacked up (0-100):

T’s Rating: 92
P’s Rating: 92
AVERAGE: 92

Fishermen’s Grill is located 849 Forest Avenue in Portland, ME (although their Facebook page says Portland, OR!) They don’t appear to have a website. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Fishermens-Grill/137243116295413. PHONE: 207.699.5657

One of the very best “classic” lobster rolls you will ever find!

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Profile: “OLD PORT TAVERN” in Portland, ME

We enjoyed a quick escape to Portland ME this past weekend with our good friends, Larry and Liz. A great time was had by all, but as is usually the case we dragged our friends along for some lobster rolling. Nursing various degrees of hangover, courtesy of two of our favorite haunts, Sonny’s and Grace, the four of us ventured out Sunday morning to meet up with another couple who live in the area. We had a choice between Eventide Oyster Co. (which co-habitates with its fraternal twin, and one of our very favorite restaurants, Hugo’s) and Old Port Tavern. Since we revere Hugo’s, and wanted to make our visit to Eventide a bit more of an event, we chose to luncheon at Old Port.

Right in the heart of downtown Portland, OPT is certainly convenient. We descended into their subterranean space to find the place completely empty. Granted, it was 12:30 p.m. on a Sunday and the town was definitely a bit slow waking from its post holiday slumber, but we were honestly surprised such a big place would have no customers at all for a Sunday lunch.

We both ordered the lobster roll, as did three of the remaining four of us (although Larry was definitely tempted by the Lobster Philly Cheese Steak). Our rolls took quite awhile which, considering we were the only customers, told us our rolls were being made to order. HOWEVER there is controversy (read on) – only the second in Lobster Roll Chronicles history.

These rolls were interesting. They certainly looked good, but were housed in an overly-large baguette-style roll. There was just way too much bread in this roll for the amount of lobster meat provided. Note that there was plenty of lobster but it was completely out of whack with the gargantuan roll, prompting Liz to suggest we cram all our lobster meat down to one end of the roll and simply amputate the remaining unnecessary bread. Good call, Liz!

As for the controversy, we visited OPT just 24-hours after visiting a very high quality roll shack called Fisherman’s Grill (review forthcoming). As such, OPT definitely suffered by comparison… at least for some of us. Others of us actually preferred the OPT roll, or at lease the lobster meat. Well, suffice to say that one of the two of us is absolutely blown away but this assessment. This person thought the lobster meat was at least a day old at best, if not frozen at worst. Combined with the ginormo-roll, this roll was a fail. The other of us thought the lobster meat was very fresh and even preferable to the lobster at Fisherman’s Grill. Interestingly, this sentiment was echoed along gender lines, with the guys strongly preferring Fisherman’s grill and not at all crazy about the OPT roll, whilst the ladies seemed to prefer OPT. As a qualifier, P acknowledged that despite her preference in lobster meat, the roll, as a whole, was substandard. We’re not sure how two people who agree nearly all the time (at least, when it comes to lobster rolls) could have such radically different reads on the same roll. Perhaps the ladies should visit OPT, while the gents should look elsewhere.

Despite the controversy, we’ll award the Old Port Tavern lobster roll with an ACCEPTABLE rating. Here’s how they stacked up (0-100):

T’s Rating: 83
P’s Rating: 85
AVERAGE: 84

Old Port Tavern is located at 11 Moulton Street in Portland, ME. WEBSITE: http://oldporttavern.com/restaurant/restaurant-home-page/. FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/OldPortTavern. PHONE: 207.774.0444

Way too much bread, and lobster meat one of us thought was suspect.

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Profile: “LATITUDE 43” in Gloucester, MA

We’d been to Latitude 43 on several occasion, so when cruising Cape Ann this past weekend we decided to stop in and give their lobster roll a try. If you haven’t been, Lat43 is harbor side in Gloucester, overlooking fishing boats and the landmark Cape Pond Ice Company. The restaurant is pretty eclectic, with a fusiony menu and a sunken sushi bar. Cool artwork and a tropical fish tank make Lat43 feel quite different than most Cape Ann haunts. In the summer their outdoor seating is right on the water, and they also have live music in their pub area.

As is most often the case during the cold months, we planted ourselves at the bar and inquired about the lobster roll. “They’re good,” our server Will said, and we ordered one roll each.

After a relatively short wait, the rolls were delivered on planks with sides of apple coleslaw and some crispy fries. The lobster meat was very fresh and the portion was a good size… but Houston, we have a problem. Aside from the tabooed use of celery (admittedly chopped very small), Lat43 also uses green onion in their roll. This might not have been a problem, except that they used so much that the delicate lobster meat was completely overpowered by onion. Another problem was the bread itself, which was very large – much bigger than the typical New England-style split-top hotdog roll. In fact, it was so disproportionately large that large mouthfuls of bread tended to mask the taste of the lobster (but, unfortunately, not the onion).

This brings up an important point about The Lobster Roll Chronicles’ methodology. Some roll reviewers will modify their rolls, adding or removing ingredients, or dipping them in butter. We do not do this. Instead, we review the roll as-delivered, just as we received it. We don’t add anything that wasn’t provided along with the roll, and we don’t dissect our rolls to minimize bad ingredients. So, although we may well have improved this roll by removing excess bread, that’s just not what we do.

With all this said, Lat43’s roll wasn’t bad. But a better roll and less green onion (and elimination of celery) would definitely raise their score by several points.

We’ll award the Latitude 43 lobster roll with an ACCEPTABLE rating. Some slight tweaking could easily move them into the Recommended category. Here’s how they stacked up (0-100):

T’s Rating: 83
P’s Rating: 83
AVERAGE: 83

Latitude 43 is located at 25 Rogers Street in Gloucester, MA. WEBSITE: http://latfortythree.com. FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Lat-43/147203808662634. PHONE: 978.281.0223

Not a bad roll, but some slight tweaks could make it a lot better!

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Profile: “ISLAND CREEK OYSTER BAR” in Boston, MA

We found Island Creek Oyster Bar in a roundabout way, twice over. First, we’d been to their Kenmore Square location back when it was a restaurant called Great Bay (in fact, it was our secret for Red Sox games – have some apps, valet your car, and they’d have it waiting and running as soon as the game got over. 30-minutes from last pitch to driveway!). But we’d also seen Island Creek Oysters featured on Andrew Zimmern‘s television show, Bizarre Foods. We realized neither of these points when we chose to make it the third of a three-roll day hoofing it around Boston. All we knew was two things: first, lots of people like ICOB. Second, they reportedly add all sorts of non-traditional nonsense into their roll. But what the heck… we figured we’d give them a try.

In some ways, ICOB is about as different from places like Red’s Eats and The Clam Shack as you can get. This is a high-end, glitzy restaurant with a mammoth bar and aforementioned valet guys who’ll happily park your car for you. Yet, the great equalizer is this bug from the deep we like to eat in a hot dog roll. So, despite the ambiance, we’re not sure how much of an advantage a fancy place really has over the little guys. The roll is what it is.

We asked about the rolls here, and our bartender Vik (who later turned out to be interested in our blog) said they were great. We told him we’d be splitting our role, which seemed fine with him.We waited the usual 10-15 minutes for our made-to-order order, and were pleased to see they actually took the time to cut our roll in half, and give each of us our own plate complete with our own orders of homemade potato chips and our own servings of coleslaw. NOTE TO FUTURE CHEFS OF AMERICA: this very small, cost-free gesture makes your customers feel like you care about them. It is, at the end of the day, pretty easy to delight your customers if you just think about it. But, we weren’t going to let this feel-good service influence our ratings.

This roll was very good. A beautifully buttered brioche roll contained a subtle complex of flavors which, in the hands of a less experienced chef, could have easily gotten out of hand. So let the controversy begin. If anyone had shared these ingredients with us in advance, we’d have been far less likely to drop by ICOB. But, confronted with this roll and nothing left to do but dig in, we were so happy nobody spilled the beans. The lobster meat was sweet, moist, and very fresh. It was dressed in light mayo (which we assume may have been scratch-made), as well as a touch of crème fraîche. This fancy tweak was so nice, and really rounded out the dressing-driven moistness while avoiding more inevitable greasy mayo twang. Tiny cubes of pickle and onion snuck up on us without being “in our face,” while salt, pepper, and a few other things we can’t remember rounded out the roll.

To repeat this was a very good roll! And, despite the laundry list of ingredients (which we’d never had noticed had we not read about them in advance) we are vary happy to award Island Creek Oyster Bar with a rating of HIGHLY RECOMMENDED. Here’s how they stacked up (0-100):

T’s Rating: 92
P’s Rating: 91
AVERAGE: 91.5

Island Creek Oyster Bar is located at 500 Commonwealth Avenue in Boston, MA. WEBSITE: http://islandcreekoysterbar.com. FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Island-Creek-Oyster-Bar/157874490904010?fref=ts. PHONE: 617.532.5300

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